All good, appel.me.uk seems fixed or unaffected!

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“Apple takes security very seriously. iOS and OS X never incorporated the vulnerable software and key web-based services were not affected,” an Apple spokesperson told Re/code.

Heartbleed was a security flaw in the open-source software OpenSSL which provides secure connections between a client and a server. OpenSSL is widely used on the Internet, so the security hole is believed to have affected up to 66% of the Internet.

The flaw allowed malicious attackers to extract login and password data and other data from a server.

It is highly recommended that users change their login/password on affected servers. A list of high-profile servers that have been affected by Heartbleed is available at Mashable.

An encryption flaw called the Heartbleed bug is already being called one of the biggest security threats the Internet has ever seen. The bug has affected many popular websites and services — ones you might use every day, like Gmail and Facebook — and could have quietly exposed your sensitive account information (such as passwords and credit card numbers) over the past two years.

But it hasn’t always been clear which sites have been affected. Mashablereached out some of the most popular social, email, banking and commerce sites on the web. We’ve rounded up their responses below.

Some Internet companies that were vulnerable to the bug have already updated their servers with a security patch to fix the issue. This means you’ll need to go in and change your passwords immediately for these sites. Even that is no guarantee that your information wasn’t already compromised, but there’s also no indication that hackers knew about the exploit before this week. The companies that are advising customers to change their passwords are doing so as a precautionary measure.

Although changing your password regularly is always good practice, if a site or service hasn’t yet patched the problem, your information will still be vulnerable.

Also, if you reused the same password on multiple sites, and one of those sites was vulnerable, you’ll need to change the password everywhere. It’s not a good idea to use the same password across multiple sites, anyway.

Social Networks

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

Facebook

Unclear

Yes

YesYes

“We added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed. We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity, but we encourage people to … set up a unique password.”

Instagram

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“Our security teams worked quickly on a fix and we have no evidence of any accounts being harmed. But because this event impacted many services across the web, we recommend you update your password on Instagram and other sites, particularly if you use the same password on multiple sites.”

LinkedIn

No

No

No

“We didn’t use the offending implementation of OpenSSL in www.linkedin.com or www.slideshare.net. As a result, HeartBleed does not present a risk to these web properties.”

Pinterest

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We fixed the issue on Pinterest.com, and didn’t find any evidence of mischief. To be extra careful, we e-mailed Pinners who may have been impacted, and encouraged them to change their passwords.”

Tumblr

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We have no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue.”

Twitter

No

Yes

Unclear

Twitter wrote that OpenSSL “is widely used across the internet and at Twitter. We were able to determine that [our] servers were not affected by this vulnerability. We are continuing to monitor the situation.” While reiterating that they were unaffected, Twitter toldMashable that they did apply a patch.

Other Companies

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

Apple

No

No

No

“iOS and OS X never incorporated the vulnerable software and key web-based services were not affected.”

Amazon

No

No

No

“Amazon.com is not affected.”

Google

Yes

Yes

YesYes*

“We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.” Search, Gmail, YouTube, Wallet, Play, Apps and App Engine were affected; Google Chrome and Chrome OS were not.*Google saidusers do not need to change their passwords, but because of the previous vulnerability, better safe than sorry.

Microsoft

No

No

No

Microsoft services were not running OpenSSL, according to LastPass.

Yahoo

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working to fix it… and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now.” Yahoo Homepage, Yahoo Search, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Food, Yahoo Tech, Flickr and Tumblr were patched. More patches to come, Yahoo says.

Email

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

AOL

No

No

No

AOL toldMashable it was not running the vulnerable version of the software.

Gmail

Yes

Yes

YesYes*

“We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.”*Googlesaid users do not need to change their passwords, but because of the previous vulnerability, better safe than sorry.

Hotmail / Outlook

No

No

No

Microsoft services were not running OpenSSL, according to LastPass.

Yahoo Mail

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working to fix it… and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now.”

“eBay.com was never vulnerable to this bug because we were never running a vulnerable version of OpenSSL.”

Etsy

Yes*

Yes

YesYes

Etsy said that only a small part of its infrastructure was vulnerable, and they have patched it.

GoDaddy

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We’ve been updating GoDaddy services that use the affected OpenSSL version.” Full Statement

Groupon

No

No

No

“Groupon.com does not utilize a version of the OpenSSL library that is susceptible to the Heartbleed bug.”

Nordstrom

No

No

No

“Nordstrom websites do not use OpenSSL encryption.”

PayPal

No

No

No

“Your PayPal account details were not exposed in the past and remain secure.” Full Statement

Target

No

No

No

“[We] launched a comprehensive review of all external facing aspects of Target.com… and do not currently believe that any external-facing aspects of our sites are impacted by the OpenSSL vulnerability.”

Walmart

No

No

No

“We do not use that technology so we have not been impacted by this particular breach.”

Banks and Brokerages

All the banks we contacted (see below) said they were unaffected by Heartbleed, but U.S. regulators have warned banks to patch their systems.

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

Bank of America

No

No

No

“A majority of our platforms do NOT use OpenSSL, and the ones that do, we have confirmed no vulnerabilities.”

Capital One

No

No

No

“Capital One uses a version of encryption that is not vulnerable to Heartbleed.”

Chase

No

No

No

“These sites don’t use the encryption software that is vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug.”

Citigroup

No

No

No

Citigroup does not use Open SSL in “customer-facing retail banking and credit card sites and mobile apps”

E*Trade

No

No

No

E*Trade is still investigating.

Fidelity

No

No

No

“We have multiple layers of security in place to protect our customer sites and services.”

PNC

No

No

No

“We have tested our online and mobile banking systems and confirmed that they are not vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug.”

Schwab

No

No

No

“Efforts to date have not detected this vulnerability on Schwab.com or any of our online channels.”

Scottrade

No

No

No

“Scottrade does not use the affected version of OpenSSL on any of our client-facing platforms.”

TD Ameritrade

No

No

No

TD Ameritrade “doesn’t use the versions of openSSL that were vulnerable.”

TD Bank

No

No

No

“We’re currently taking precautions and steps to protect customer data from this threat and have no reason to believe any customer data has been compromised in the past.”

U.S. Bank

No

No

No

“We do not use OpenSSL for customer-facing, Internet banking channels, so U.S. Bank customer data is NOT at risk.”

Wells Fargo

No

No

No

No reason provided.

Government and Taxes

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

1040.com

No

No

No

“We’re not vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug, as we do not use OpenSSL.”

FileYour Taxes.com

No

No

No

“We continuously patch our servers to keep them updated. However, the version we use was not affected by the issue, so no action was taken.”

H&R Block

Unclear

No

Unclear

“We are reviewing our systems and currently have found no risk to client data from this issue.”

Healthcare .gov

No

No

No

“Healthcare.gov consumer accounts are not affected by this vulnerability.”

Intuit (TurboTax)

Yes

Yes

YesYes

Turbotax “has examined its systems and has secured TurboTax to protect against the “Heartbleed” bug.” Full Statement

IRS

Unclear

Unclear

Unclear

“The IRS continues to accept tax returns as normal … and systems continue operating and are not affected by this bug. We are not aware of any security vulnerabilities related to this situation.”

TaxACT

No

No

No

“Customers can update their passwords at any time, although we are not proactively advising them to do so at this time.”

USAA

Yes

Yes

YesYes

USAA said that it has “already taken measures to help prevent a data breach and implemented a patch earlier this week.”

Other

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

Box

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We’re currently working with our customers to proactively reset passwords and are also reissuing new SSL certificates for added protection.”

Dropbox

Yes

Yes

YesYes

On Twitter: “We’ve patched all of our user-facing services & will continue to work to make sure your stuff is always safe.”

GitHub said it has patched all its systems, deployed new SSL certificates and revoked old ones. GitHub is asking all users to change password, enable two-factor authentication and “revoke and recreate personal access and application tokens.”

IFTTT

Yes

Yes

YesYes

IFTTT emailed all its users and logged them out, prompting them to change their password on the site.

Minecraft

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We were forced to temporary suspend all of our services. … The exploit has been fixed. We can not guarantee that your information wasn’t compromised.”More Information

Netflix

Unclear

Unclear

Unclear

“Like many companies, we took immediate action to assess the vulnerability and address it. We are not aware of any customer impact.”

OKCupid

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“We, like most of the Internet, were stunned that such a serious bug has existed for so long and was so widespread.”

SoundCloud

Yes

Yes

YesYes

SoundCloud emphasized that there were no indications of any foul play and that the company’s actions were simply precautionary.

Spark Networks (JDate, Christian Mingle)

No

No

No

Sites do not use OpenSSL.

SpiderOak

Yes

Yes

No

Spideroak said it patched its servers, but the desktop client doesn’t use a vulnerable version of OpenSSL, so “customers do not need to take any special action.”

WordPress

Unclear

Unclear

Unclear

WordPresstweeted that it has taken “immediate steps” and “addressed the Heartbleed OpenSSL exploit,” but it’s unclear if the issue is completely solder. When someone asked Matt Mullenweg, WordPress’ founding developer, when the site’s SSL certificates will be replaced and when users will be able to reset passwords, he simply answered: “soon.”

Wunderlist

Yes

Yes

YesYes

“You’ll have to simply log back into Wunderlist. We also strongly recommend that you reset your password for Wunderlist.” Full Statement

Password Managers

Was it affected?

Is there a patch?

Do you need to change your password?

What did they say?

1Password

No

No

No

1Password said in ablog postthat its technology “is not built upon SSL/TLS in general, and not upon OpenSSL in particular.” So users don’t need to change their master password.

Dashlane

Yes

Yes

No

Dashlane said in ablog postusers’ accounts were not impacted and the master password is safe as it is never transmitted. The site does use OpenSSL when syncing data with its servers but Dashlane said it has patched the bug, issued new SSL certificates and revoked previous ones.

LastPass

Yes

Yes

No

“Though LastPass employs OpenSSL, we have multiple layers of encryption to protect our users and never have access to those encryption keys.” Users don’t need to change their master passwords becausethey’re never sent to the server. But passwords for other sites stored in LastPass might need to be changed.

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Thank you for your very friendly and much appreciated expert and professional help and advice in resolving the several software issues with my 27 inch iMac. Thank you too for keeping me updated on the progress of the work, albeit you repaired my iMac very promptly, and the very detailed report on all the work you carried out together with advice for future use of my iMac. I am most grateful for your excellent customer service. I will most definitely be using your all round first class services a…

John, Machynlleth, Powys

I am very happy to have found you after feeling rather in the wilderness with any Mac support near by. I happily spend an hour’s drive to get to your place loaded with my MacMini because within a very short time you not only answer all my questions concerning iPhone, Back ups, Time machine and Video receptions but also recommended a very efficient backup system to archive my photography and video/film work.

As a pensioner I have to be careful with money I can afford but I felt the pricing was fa…

Wilf, Oswestry, Shropshire

Responsive, more knowledgeable than the Genius Bar, and not some 20 year old who knows nothing in a stack them high, sell them cheap, technology warehouse. MacBook black replaced DVDRW and fitted replacement keyboard

Simon, Church Stretton, Shropshire

My iMac 24 is brilliant and so are you. Really appreciate your knowledge and flexibility (allowing me to collect it after hours) really nice dealing with a person rather than a call centre. You’ve saved me the cost of a new iMac, really appreciate your help.

Pat, Stafford

I had an iPad screen replaced and a little damage to the case repaired. The work was done on time and at a reasonable price. I was very happy with Appel’s service. iPad 3 repair new glass digitiser

Derek, Albrighton, Shropshire

Forgot to let you know I got the Macbook back last week and it all seems to be working fine. Thanks 17″ MacBook Pro repaired logic board

Andrew, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear

At Strata Creative we have used Apple Macs for over 20 years, and have used Appel in a variety of situations from emergency breakdown and data recovery to purchase of pre owned systems and equipment. We have always been completely satisfied with the service that we have received and Keith has been very professional and accommodating. MacBooks & iMacs various Mac repair work.

Paul, Telford, Shropshire

Thank you so much for sorting out the problems with my daughter’s MacBook. For an IT idiot like myself, your service was brilliant. You were so helpfuland explained the problems in terms I could understand and completed the work in a far shorter time than expected. I have to say that I was also very pleasantly surprised by the bill! My daughter is delighted to have her computer back in plenty of time for her summer work for university. MacBook replace HD Install new OS

Sarah, Much Wenlock, Shropshire

This is the second time I’ve used Appel’s services, due to a failed video chip on my MacBook. Both times Keith has been extremely helpful and gone the extra mile to assist me and ensure my issues are resolved. Thanks again Keith, you managed to turn a stressful situation into a manageable one and should anyone I know have any Apple related issues, I know where to point them. Thanks again.

Edward, Telford

Would not hesitate to use you again. I don’t do emails but as you did a good job on my 5 year old 17″ MacBook Pro I made an exception. New HD and overhaul.

Dave, Telford, Shropshire

Faults and Solutions

External hard drive dropped. Diagnosed displaced or broken heads. Sent to specialist laboratory for strip down & rebuild in clean environment for best chance of full data recovery.

MacBook 13.3″ white new LCD panel received and fitted to fix blank screen

2 MacBook Air repairs with liquid damage. One beyond economic repair but the other had a new keyboard, data recovery & reset main drive. All data recovered and test good.

Safari running slow and unusual windows appearing. You may have malware installed called adware. Remove by downloading the free Adware Medic. It updates every time you use it & if it helps plea make a donation when you use it.

MacBook white A1181, trackpad not working. Replaced whole topcase keyboard & trackpad. All works now. Trackpad & keyboard are not individually replaceable on this model so its a whole topcase.

Supplied iPad Mini refurbished plus new lighting mains cable. Found some braided lightning cables from Robert Dyas which do the job admirably and for less than £10.

20” iMac brought in with failed HD. Recovered part of the data but the majority is lost with NO backup. Installed new HD with OS & transferred little recovered data. Advised client the FileVault client is not accessible and only way to get data is send to laboratory for compete dismantling in a clean room. Cost around £500 and no guarantees. Ouch – have you backed up today?

MacBook Pro 15″ failed battery & failed hard drive. Replaced battery with new and removed HD to recovery station. Unable to recover any data from this drive – sent to HD laboratory who dismantled in a clean room and rebuilt so data could be saved. There was catastrophic damage to one platter of HD and this data was lost but the other 3 platters were recovered including critical data for client.

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Testimonials

MacBook Pro repair. Slow running and system hiccups. Checked applications running and processor overhead to find a number of virus protection apps & utility apps were impacting performance. The newer versions of OS X Mavericks & Yosemite are having even more problems with 3rd party utilities and virus checkers. Providing you keep your OS up to date they should not be necessary. Deleted all these utilities and everything running faster now.

Keith’s service at Appel.me is excellent. He always gives us great service, prompt updates and advice on our Mac repairs. His service is always excellent value as he looks for the low cost solution first which in this day and age is quite rare to find. Various MacBooks & MacBook Pros

Earlier this year my iMac suffered a Hard Drive failure…I thought 6 years of my life had vanished… Keith calmed me down and set about the repairs…I had a new hard drive installed and he managed to recover 90% of my files! Fabulous service!

Client just called and has installed Yosemite on a 6 year old Mac. Appel do NOT recommend installing Yosemite on any Macs over 2 years old. This client is fetching his MAcBook in today and all that can be done is to erase the hard disk 7 install a compatible OS for his machine.

I am so glad that Keith at Appel was recommended to me. From start to finish the service he offered was exceptional. I will have no hesitation in recommending him to people in the future. First class service!